Customer Reviews

Is This It

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1 star:		(107)

 

 

What if I could offer you instant happiness? This happiness could be obtained without having to take any pills, invest large sums of money, vote Socialist in the next election or meet any new and interesting friends in the county lock-up. My guess is that most of you would be interested in my offer. Now, that you're interested, all you have to do is find your way to the nearest mall or dot com so you can obtain the 2001 release, "Is This It", by the band The Strokes. It is not merely a collection of tunes; it is an ecstatic dose of acoustic Wellbutrin.

I'm still trying to figure out what happened with this record even though I bought it over three years ago. One minute I was slogging along with my anti-pop culture friends and deriding this age of musical nihilism and the next I'm in my living room singing "He won't decide but he won't debate."

I purchased the CD after hearing the addictive radio single, "Last Night." I usually don't buy a lot of new releases, as I'm often severely disappointed. It is rare when I find the popular stuff worthwhile. Yet, the first time I heard the record I knew it was special before the sixth or seventh song even began to play. Their sound is effervescent and stimulates regardless of the volume at which they are heard. Many may dismiss their compositions as being merely "catchy" but I think this is incorrect. There is a quiet complexity to their sound and, as my friend Grange put it, "They're so smooth it's actually deceptive- because there's actually a whole lot going on."

I will acknowledge that their physical appearance is not confidence inspiring. They appear on television in ultra-trendy dress and their liner note photos make them look as if they each individually drank three barrels apiece from the fountain of youth. Yet inexperience and glamour do not contaminate the end product which vibrates from your speakers.

The truest proof I can offer of their excellence is that "Is This It" did not leave my CD player for three months time after purchase. I'd give it a quick play on a daily basis. Only now have I reached the point where the record infrequently breaks into the rotation but I still appreciate it whenever it does.

The Strokes have become my default option whenever the need to buy a gift arises. For my mother's birthday last year, I decided to amazon her the album (along with a bunch of other stuff). My mom loved it and when I visited for Christmas I found the record on her passenger seat, which suggested heavy use.

One of my friends was going through a nasty bout of melancholia so I decided to give it to him as a present. He reported to me that the vitality of the melodies actually made him feel better.

Is this a hybrid, commercially fabricated band? Who cares. They're great and that's all I care about. Sometimes a band of mercenaries can be melded into a unit and the end result is a Stanley Cup champion or a Super Bowl victory. Regardless of influence or history, The Strokes sound grand and that's enough for me. If you're in the need for cheap euphoria, get ready because this is it.

"Is this it" brought pre-release hype to new heights so now that the record is out the obvious question is: Does it live up to the hype? Well, of course not. People were expecting the second-coming of the Rolling Stones or the Velvet Underground (post Cale) and the Strokes ain't either. But on the other hand this is a brilliant album and it's most likely to end in my TOP 10 this year. In a time when most (indie) music is ethereal, intimate, slow-paced and, let's be honest, BORING, this comes as a fresh breath of air! The Strokes' most obvious influence is New York Punk from the late '70s (they're always compared to bands such as Television, the Stooges, Velvet Underground and a bunch of others). I particularly love The singer's raw vocals, delivered, as Amazon states, with "weary nonchalance". All in all, this is a must-have!

"Blah blah blah, I'm too indie for you, this album sucks, it's too hyped, it's been done, etc." Sound like anything you've read recently?

The funny thing about hype--I think--is that it works both ways. People complain that an album sucks because it's "too hyped", but, aren't they really just buying into the hype? I had never even heard of The Strokes until I downloaded some of their stuff off of epitonic.com. I was totally blown away. I am a die-hard fan of vintage rock and roll, and rarely listen to anything made past the 1980's, and I love this album. Yes, they have influences--every band does--but they have added something to the old "insert 1 part angst, two parts catchy guitar riffs, 1 part good hair" formula that people have been copying for years. One thing is apparent about this album that I value: The Strokes aren't trying to hard to be obscure and different--they're just playing good old rock and roll for music's sake, and what, may I ask, is wrong with that?

But, whatever, I'm not going to lend a hand to you clueless fools who choose to buy into the pretentious anti-hype. You can listen to the indie-posers and I will keep The Strokes all to myself. Thank you!

Curious case, the Strokes. The British music press have fallen all over themselves in heaping praise upon them. Their Stateside counterparts are catching on as even Newsweek has heralded the release of their debut LP. As Spin recently poignantly and correctly asserted, more people have heard of the Strokes than have actually heard them.

Until now, perhaps. After a bit of a delay in retooling the album in the wake of the events of September 11, Is This It has been released, allowing the public a full-fledged opportunity to check out the band on record beyond an EP and a single, both released earlier this year in limited circulation. The album crashed in the charts at a glorious #74 position. I'm guessing the CBGB scenesters propelled it to such heights.

So what does Is This It reveal about the group for those of us who dwell far beyond the Lower East Side? Well, the band wears its myriad influences on their collective sleeve. And the rest of their shirt, pants, shoes and whatever other piece of clothing adorns them. Let's see, there's a healthy dose of the Velvets, Television, Blondie, Iggy (hey, a non-NYC touchstone!), as well as just about every pre-punk, proto-punk and new wave band that has festered in NYC. Let's just say this is the sound of a band who could've been holding court at CBGB any time between '77 and '81.

As far as whether or not the Strokes deliver the goods, I think it depends on one's take on the band's homage to and pastiche of the aforementioned influences. I think they do a credible job of conjuring the spirit of Lower East past. Barely Legal, Someday and Last Nite (currently in slow rotation on MTV) are fairly ace tunes, with Someday being the cream of the crop. The thing with me, though, is why settle for this facsimile when you can go back to the sources? Marquee Moon, Loaded and even Parallel Lines are far better records with far superior tunes.

And therein lies the biggest snag with the Strokes. Their material doesn't quite match their mettle. While they have effectively copped the feel, fashion and spirit of the CBGB heyday, Is This It finds the band failing to match the quality of the work of that era's premier groups. I'm not sure if it's a case of the weight of their influences being too heavy to bare or if frontman and sole songwriter Julian Casablancas just hasn't developed the talent to whip up strong enough material, but this album doesn't live up to the proverbial hype.

Maybe it's just that this Southern redneck just doesn't get it. Maybe the British press are bang on with their glowing appraisals. I mean, it's not like they are given to hyperbole every once in a while, are they?

I have this feeling that the people who are so mercilessly bashing these guys are more outraged by all the hype that surrounds this young band.Having picked up on The Strokes "post-hype", I was able to listen with an un-biased ear and take the music for what it really was.Sure, there isn't anything ground-breaking here-but the music is fresh, its fun, energetic, and very enjoyable. "The Strokes" aren't musical gods, but they write sweet tunes, and the instrumentation is tight. They don't sound like every other band out there, and their popularity is easily credible to the fact that their music is genuinely fun without sacrificing the band's artistic integrity.

Is This It is a VERY fun and upbeat album. There isn't a single downer-if you don't get the urge to nod your head somewhere in the middle of the album, something is seriously wrong with you. So, chill out, ignore the hype, turn the music up, and sing along to this fresh, fun, and zesty band.

I am probably the only person who loves the Velvet Underground and Television that is going to say this, but I must.

I bought the album based upon the buzz and was looking forward to something special. It is a good album, but by no means IS THIS IT. This album is repetitive, the production quality fuzzes out the lead singer to the point of obscurity, but the band is tight and the guitar hooks are very interesting.

The Strokes are an up and coming item and I look forward to hearing more from them but by no means are they Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground aside from being art rockers from NYU and NYC.

Feel free to form your own opinions though.

Media hype follows the Strokes like a hungry dog. But with its classic-inspired uptown-grit rock, it's undeniable that while they aren't exactly the saviors of modern rock'n'roll, they are a solid and enjoyable chunk of it. "Is This It" offers the answer to its own drawled question -- this is it, and it is worth checking out.

A pounding rhythm and several variations of the question "Is this it?" kick off the title track, a swaying rock melody. Following it are a catchy, gritty collection of lo-fi rockers. The uniquely-named Julian Casablancas drones in a delicious monotone through the fast-moving "Barely Legal," the uneasy "Leave Me Alone," the deceptively simple-sounding "Last Night," and the skipping percussion of "Hard to Explain."

Expect to hear echoes of legendary bands like the Velvet Underground, the Stooges and Television. However, the Strokes give this retro sound a twenty-first century twist of New Yorker ennui and art-rock underpinnings. And a lot of attitude. A lot of good rock is half swagger, and the Strokes have their sneery swagger down to a minor art form.

Due to the lavish praise heaped on the Strokes, they've become a love-'em-or-hate-'em phenomena. But just ignoring the hype and listening to the music works best -- it shows off their energetic style in full. Okay, they are not groundbreakers -- but at least they scuff the ground that has already been trodden.

Nick Valensi and Albert Hammond's complex guitar riffs are the gems of this album -- they drone, they skip, they reverberate, and they sear. Nikolai Fraiture's bass is a good dark edge, and Fabrizo Moretti's drumming sounds like little strikes of lighting -- fast, sharp and completely out of the blue.

Julian Casablancas has now become the reference point for male singers who sing in a bored monotone, as if too jaded to show emotion in a song. The only time he breaks out of it is in "Barely Legal," where he almost sounds excited at times. "I wanna steal your innocence/To me my life it don't make sense," he says, and sounds like he means it.

The Strokes are far from being the saviors of rock'n'roll. But their punk-tinged New Yawker rock is still some pretty good music, and "Is This It" remains a likable if spotty debut.

At first listen this sounds pretty exciting, but after a few times through their influences begin to weigh in rather heavily. The two-guitar attack is very reminiscent of Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd's work with Television, which is not a bad thing, but it's been done. The vocals are a very astute combination of Iggy Stooge and Richard Hell.

The songs tend to get samey, but I think this is a result of the production, which is calculatedly "raw." A touch of reverb wouldn't have hurt, guys. The "singing through a megaphone" effect that they stick on Julian Casablancas' vocals doesn't help either. The production, basically, is really deadening to the ear, which detracts from the songs. This is too bad, because the songs are (mostly) quite strong and the lyrics bear listening to several times. The guitar work, despite being derivative, is right on the money throughout.

I wish I liked these guys more than I do. They have the right attitude and the right moves, and I suspect they may even have their hearts in the right place, but there's an aura of calculatedness that throws me off, and the production is really not all that good.

If they survive the hype, the Strokes may develop into a great band; the seeds are certainly here. If they don't "Inside The Music" themselves out of commission with hype, drugs, groupies and what-not, they will put out a determinedly great CD. This isn't it, but it's worth hearing.

I basicly don't like music publications nor do I watch any MTV, so by chance I heard "Last night" on a local radio station. This is a stripped bare rock record and that's a good thing no matter who everyone and their mother thinks they have ripped off their sound from. In the unfortunate "hyped up consumeristic" era we are in it is impossible for them to escape the microscope of every Johnny come lately musical expert. I have been into the punk scene for about 16 years and I understand that for some unknown reason it is just not "cool" for a band to be popular, upper middle class, talked about and liked by people other than "true unbending scene slobs". Good news folks, your kind eventually matures. You can still be so called "cool" and like any ...band/music on the planet!

Yes this has been done before and no they are not saving any scene or musical genre, what they are doing is playing music that can be liked by a wide variety of people and I don't see the problem with that. It's o.k. to like something even though the masses have discoverd it.

The Strokes have written some great catchy tunes on Is This It, in my opinion the entire record is solid with no signs of filler material. I hear tinges of The Smiths songwriting structures with more punch and edge. Also I detect some New Order/Joy Division influences here. At times the bass lines are reminiscent of the driving, howling sound of a New Order tune, and the vocals have a tinge of the haunting Joy Division. I won't make all the other comparisons that are listed infintly by most of the reviews and numerous publications, those have been overstated.

If you like good, catchy, edgy, raw, stripped down rock and roll this is worth your time and money.

Oh yeah, does anyone else out there detect a tinge of the Sid and Marty Croft Superstars? Maybe that's why I like this disk, it reminds me of watching H.R. Puffinstuff, Sigmund the Sea Monster and The Buggalos on Saturday mornings when I was a kid.......

So much has already been said and written about The Strokes, it seems almost pointless to add my two cents, but after listening to the CD for the fifth time in a row I feel compelled. No, they're not the "Greatest Rock N' Roll Band" ever, nor even the greatest band right now. But, I don't think all the hoopla is necessarily about their playing, or even their songs, but their ATTITUDE has struck a massive chord with a lot of disenchanted music lovers. The music IS great: energetic, driving, raw, and FUN, whether or not it's wholly original. Radiohead may be opening new doors with every album, but Jesus they're becoming such esoteric downers. And forget about what's on the radio. Of course there are always tons of indie bands out there offering up this same attitude, but without the type of buzz the media has created they won't be "saving" rock n' roll. A lot of people are placing all their chips on the success of The Strokes because they represent a new direction in rock. A direction that is akin to what happened in 1992 with Nirvana (and I'm not comparing the two bands musically), a breath of fresh air in a stagnant musical landscape. Let's all hope that happens.